北海道地方・ 小樽運河

秋の色・自分で、寂しいな！

秋の色・カニちゃんと一緒に！



秋の色・ちょうちょちゃんといっしょに！

秋の色・ネズミちゃんと一緒に！

黄色・自分で、寂しいな！

黄色・カニちゃんと一緒に！

黄色・ネズミちゃんと一緒に！

黄色・チョウチョちゃんと一緒！

赤い・自分で、寂しいな！

赤い・ネズミちゃんと一緒に！

赤い・ちょうちょちゃんといっしょに！

ブルー・自分で、寂しいな！

ブルー・ちょうちょちゃんといっしょに！

ブルー・ネズミちゃんと一緒に！

ブルー・カニちゃんと一緒に！

Outsourcing Empire: How Company-States Made the Modern World | Andrew Bradley Phillips and J. C. Sharman | Princeton University Press

Part of the title of this book was a very neutral and emotionless 'How Company-States Made the Modern World', which lead me to think that the authors would seek to demonstrate that the expanding mercantile ambitions of the Europeans was a positive development in shaping the world in which we now inhabit.

I felt the authors were quite specific in stating that initially, the precursors of the European colonies in areas far away from their homelands were the trading companies such as the British East India Company and the (notorious) Dutch East India Company.  This crucial differentiation was rather important in perhaps absolving the Crowns of various colonial powers in the very early days of their expansions when the trading companies perhaps misrepresented themselves as being 'of the Crown' and engaging in what can be interpreted today as discrimination and/or malicious actions taken against the natives of the 'colonies'.  I noticed a tendancy with writers from the lands that were colonised by these European countries or had multiple conflicts with these countries to not distinguish that the aggressors were the trading companies' militia and not the Crowns' armies.

Because the writers had chosen to write from a purely European perspective, the aggression and oppression that these trading companies had subjected the natives to in their crazed pursuit of profit appears to be conveniently omitted from this book.  

More Tulips Galore!!

 

Mercure Sibiu Arsenal

Sibiu was a beautiful city even when it was covered under heaps of snow, and I'm sure it will be even more gorgeous in the other seasons.

Mecure Sibiu Arsenal is the second Mercure hotel I've stayed in (the first being the Mercure Sofia City) and I will no longer hesitate to book a room at another Mercure hotel if I have to reserve my accomodation (I hesitated to book a room at Mercure Okinawa Naha back then because I was not familiar with the brand, and went with another brand that I was familiar with).

At 21m2, my twin room didn't feel small or cramped, but the slightly narrow beds did make me worry about tumbling off it.  

The room was well equipped with tea and coffee making machines, and mineral water, and I must say that the bathroom design was quite sensible with the toilet and shower area separately by a spacious sink area.

The only drawback for the shower area is that water seems to pool at the opposite end of where the shower is located, and the ventilation is not strong enough to dry the shower area completely even after two hours.  This seems like a construction defect that was not rectified.

A Quiet Place | Seichou Matsumoto | Penguin

 ペンギン社から出版された松本清張著『聞かなかった場所』の表紙には、サンデー・タイムズ紙が松本を「日本のアガサ・クリスティ」と称賛する言葉が引用されていた。

この引用は明らかに褒め言葉ではあるものの、英語で執筆していない優れた作家を英語作家と比較するのは、少々滑稽に思えた。しかし、もしかしたら、アガサ・クリスティの名前しか知らない読者に、別の作家の作品を紹介するためなのかもしれない、とも思った。

最初は『聞かなかった場所』がいつ書かれたのか分からず、携帯電話が普及する前の時代が舞台だろうと推測していた。どうやら物語の舞台はそれより数十年も前のことらしいが、ドラマや映画化されていても不思議ではない。実際、グーグルで調べてみると、この本はかなりの数の映像化作品が存在することが分かった。

松本清張は「日本のアガサ・クリスティ」と言えるだろうか？ 実は、私が読んだ松本清張の作品はこれが初めてで、しかも英語訳なので、原語で読んでみるまでは、この賛辞に賛同することはできない。

Tulips Galore!!

 

Tuna Mayonnaise Sandwich with Salad

 Had a breakfast box of tuna mayonnaise sandwich with salad.  

There was tuna mayonnaise sandwiched between a slide of wholemeal bread and a slice of charcoal bread.  Not sure why the bread combination was so, and it did look a little strange at the beginning.  Thought thatt he sandwich might be better had the bread been toasted.

Liked the salad though.  There was quite a bit of quinoa and rocket leaves with bits of cucumber, corn kernals and 3 cherry tomatoes.  Ate the salad without the dressing, and could eat more of the salad!

Strange Houses | Uketsu | HarperVia

 

覆面ユーチューバーの雨穴 が執筆した『変な家』は非常に人気が高く、英語版も出版されており、書店では数週間ベストセラーリストにランクインしているようだ。

私は本の表紙に載っている間取り図にとても興味をそそられ、英語訳を読むことで、著者が意図した細部を見逃すことなく、物語を完全に理解できるだろうと考えました。

『変な家』は楽しく読めた。真実が明らかになるまで、ずっとハラハラドキドキさせられた。そして、なんとも奇妙な真実だった！

『変な家』は既にドラマ化されているのでしょうか？もし本当にドラマ化されているとしても驚きませんし、制作チームがどのようにして家々の内部を表現するのか気になります。

[ビバリー] Where’s Wally? イカリを上げて大行進

Grand Hotel Riga

The Grand Hotel Riga is located along the banks of the Danube River, which would make it a really attractive hotel to stay in.  Unfortunately, I was quite caught off-guard by the almost incesssant (heavy) snowing to even want to make that little walk to the banks of the Danube River in Ruse.

I was quite prepared to resign myself to the room I saw on Hotel Riga's website before I checked-in, but it seems to appear that I was allocated a more expensive room that had more interesting furniture and looked like more thought had gone into its design.  Perhaps this is a perk of patronising a hotel when most people would rather stay home in knee-deep snow!

The room was quite spacious and so was the bathroom.  I'm guessing that in the warmer summer months without all that heaps of snow and slush everywhere and when Ruse looks gorgeous in photographs, there would be no chance of me being allocated to such a room at this hotel at the rate I paid.